does he have to import it for the duration of his holiday???
if not (as I presume is the case)… there is not a “member state of temporary importation”… ie no paperwork or declaration needed
so, once again… it would seem that the French driver is OK, provided license/assurance too.
Perhaps Brexit has changed all that happened before. Might well be so.
It can’t be used unless it’s imported!
import verb [T] (BRING IN) …. to bring in products, goods, etc. from another country for sale or use:
Have any UK folk, had to temporarily import their car, when visiting France??
I can see how one does so for merchandise (forms etc…) but after that, I’ve lost the plot.
I think you are overthinking it. Import can mean quite simply to take/bring in to a foreign country. In the context regarding visiting tourists a condition is that the vehicle is used by a resident of the country in which the vehicle is registered and not loaned (i.e. used) to a resident of the country visited. Ergo, a French resident cannot drive a foreign registered car in France and, equally, a UK resident cannot drive a foreign registered car in the UK.
Anotherforeign car seizure yesterday for no VED (tax) and no insurance Presumably it was established that the driver is a UK resident. Offences are no VED (road tax) or UK insurance = seizure + £200 fine + removal fee c£200 + daily storage fee. DVLA are informed so vehicle has to be re-registered before it can be reclaimed.
It should be pointed out that almost all these cases relate to Eastern Europeans but there was a German and a Spanish car recently and it may be that western Europe registrations attract less attention.
No Road Tax and No Insurance… that would be illegal in most countries, I imagine…
Surely it would depend on it being road legal in its registered country and how long it had been in the UK?
Yes, more than likely…
Are we over-thinking this… I believe we might well be.
I’ve still found nothing in writing which talks about anything more than the Owner… and where that Owner lives etc… and then it goes on to talk about buying from another country etc etc and thus needing to import the vehicle… aargh.
I shall raise this topic of discussion next Wednesday night (when we shall be meeting up with a wide group of French folk…)
It will be interesting to learn their views.
To clarify (or try to)…
A foreign registered car is stopped by police. The driver turns out to be resident in the UK despite being from the country in which the car is registered. Think French person resident in the UK and driving a French registered car.
On becoming a UK resident their car is immediately subject to re-registration which requires UK insurance so the offence of driving an untaxed vehicle without insurance occurs. It may be that the driver is not actual owner of the car but the offence is committed by the driver - a person who is resident in the UK.
Residency is relatively easy for a police officer to ascertain at the roadside with just a few pertinent questions and enquiries by phone or laptop…
Much comes down to people ignoring the requirement to re-register a car in order to save money and avoid motoring penalties.
Yes…forget insurance, different issue, if you are resident in UK you can’t drive a car there that is still registered in France, and i am almost sure if you are a French resident you can’t drive a car reg in UK.
The key word being resident against a tourist.
A major reason for this is to stop people driving a foreign car in their own country, committing road traffic offences locally in a foreign reg’ car and the local police being unable to easily trace the car to enforces penalties…or at least that was the explanation given
I trust if you are importing a UK into France then you can drive it from UK to your home in France.
Yes, you can…
We’ve done this many times. We always get a cover note from our French Insurers, before buying and/or bringing the car from UK and driving it here.
Then we drive the UK car on French roads while the change to French Immatriculation is going on (which can take some months to finalize, depending).
We’ve never been challenged… although some of our cars have attracted the attention of the gendarmes, but only in a pleasant way.
OK folks… I have spent today, having a wonderful get together with car-club friends.
I asked one pal the question… Can I, as a French Resident, drive a car in France, belonging to a UK Resident… if the car has English Immatriculation.
His reply was clear. Yes, if the car is legal in its own country… if the owner gives you permission and you have Insurance cover… plus, of course, a valid license.
He reckoned that in case of being “stopped and questioned”… it would be best to have a copy of the log book, insurance document and written authority by the Owner… preferably with translations into French…
But, he was quite clear… if all the boxes are ticked… YES… Stella can drive a foreign registered car…
He was Head of the École de la Police Nationale… and I trust him to know what is what.
@LizzieB you might find this information useful.
Good to know Stella, although I acknowledge the seniority and status of your friend, police people do not always have all the facts at their command.
I have related before, I think, the 45 minutes I was delayed on a Cornish road at 4 in the morning because the police who stopped me (on what turned out to be mistaken identity as a speeder) insisted that a European licence (pre Brexit) was not valid in England. I was only let go because their controller on their radio didn’t know either but it was decided to give me a verbal warning as there was no-one on duty at Swansea to confirm or deny.
Whilst I cannot speak for UK Police… I can assure you that my French friend does know exactly what he is talking about…
I asked him the question (as per the title of this thread) and he gave me his reply… re French Resident driving UK reg car in France…
Of course, folk are free to disregard/disbelieve/doubt what he says…
As I said, good to know Stella. 
He’s right and he’s wrong Stella, though I can understand why he would hold his opinion, because it is a customs matter not a police matter. All the police boxes maybe ticked but the vehicle can still be seized by customs until the paperwork is sorted.
Interestingly, my Daughter who’s home from Oz for a few months (she got married here in September) and is now staying in my apartment in Dublin having driven back one of our French registered cars was warned by a neighbour last week that the car could be seized and that her’s, a Northern Ireland registration, had been some days earlier.
Jill didn’t bother telling her that she wasn’t an Irish resident nor that she and her husband had driven by and observed her remonstrating vigorously with customs, who, accompanied by the police, were lifting her car from the side of the road 
Because of very high Vehicle Registration Tax (only Denmark has a similar level) these checks are quite frequent in Ireland and probably even more so after Brexit as VAT would also be payable.
Some years ago I was stopped by Customs here in a autoroute service area (they seem to hang out there - no escape 
) in the Morgan just after I had imported it and asked for all my paperwork. Luckily everything was in order.
OK… if you are saying that my French friend should have added that the Owner must be resident in the country in which the car is Registered…
That was taken as read, since I described the situation of a Brit coming from UK to visit me with his UK reg car… and letting me drive it in France… would I be able to and with what paperwork etc…
Absolutely… you had everything in order… and as my French friend advised… have everything in order if you are driving a borrowed car (actually, the same docs whether foreign regd or not) and preferrably documents translated into French if they are in a foreign language …
I’m not sure what paperwork you are talking about @John_Scully … I have already covered the paperwork necessary for a French resident to drive a borrowed foreign car in France…
Not sure what it says about me that I read this and immediately thought…
we all need a good laugh… and my French National-Police friend did also use that phrase… (albeit in French) and he does wear a long scarf… so maybe he’s Dr Who à la française…